Minor Video Stutter

This can not have anything to with FPS refresh rates Handbrake or any other encoder.

As the videos will play perfectly, they only start to stutter once the video is fully buffered onto the Apple TV.

If it had something to do with FPS ect... then the issue would be at all times not just when fully buffered onto the Apple TV.

The same movie rented from the iTunes store Stutters on the ATV2 once the movie is fully loaded but not the ATV1. Not doing these tests anymore spending too much money renting movies.

We can say 100% tat it's the Apple TV at fault. Apple have even admitted it when i called Apple Care they said it was a know issue with the device.

More discussion here http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1544924&p=23

Well I connected my iphone4 to my TV using component cables and using air video to play a movie that I had previously watched stuttering on my atv2. The movie played fine off my iphone.

It also plays stuttering iTunes rental store content perfectly.

I am satisfied its an atv2 problem. If it was an encode problem or frame rate or specific TV issue, playing content by any of these methods would have replicated the problem.

That's actually an excellent test. Gives me a lot of hope that this can easily be fixed.

EchoAusio, this is exactly the answer I am looking for too. I think most here are videophiles because while I see the stutter, others I have shown do not. So, it's hard to detect and so Apple may not be super quick to fix it. And I do hope it's fixable and not a product flaw.

Heres what I have done on a total of 10 rentals across 5 different New Apple TV units. Not all mine of course but mine and friends who own them.

All rentals were HD TV shows. We used different shows for each test and heres the conclusion.

1. Playback was flawless in each case all the way up until the buffer filled. We watched the buffer to make sure. Moments after being filled the jitters started immediately.

2. After the buffer filled we unplugged the ATV to reboot.

3. Restarted the movie and confirmed it was still in buffer. Movie playback once again was flawless fro the remainder of the show on all units.

So to me this says its no doubt a buffer issue. Im not very knowledgeable about exactly how the buffer process works between the device and the server. It sounds as even though the buffer is full the device is still attempting to buffer perhaps ? Rebooting results in the unit detecting the movie is present in full so it no longer attempts to buffer. Just a theory and probably wrong but still no doubt this issue has something to do with buffer completion.

Message was edited by: rz22g

I tried unplugging the atv2 after the buffer had filled on an HD rental movie. Alas when I powered back on the buffer had disappeared and started refilling. When the buffer was full it started stuttering.

Yes.. sorry I have not updated my comment. My testing was done with smaller HD TV Shows so I would not have to wait for a whole movie to buffer. Even though the movies buffer completely for some reason they do not remain completely in buffer.

Just an update to help support that this may be a hardware / buffer issue and not a store / server issue. I ripped a BluRay that I own and encoded it for playback on apple TV at 720P and added to my iTunes library.

Playback was fine until the buffer filled and jitters began. I also confirmed its not in the video by rewinding and watching the spots where the jitter was noticed and it would not be there. So Im really confident this is a hardware issue. I only hope Apple can fix it with firmware.

Unfortunately they have not actually acknowledged this issue so I will not be keeping mine past my 30 day return period. I will simply return it and get one later if they fix the issue.

The new apple TV reminds me of the original AppleTV firmware 1.0. There are many issues that Apple needs to address. I've had lock-ups and watched shows don't always get flagged as watched. The Netflix interface needs polished. The cover flow pictures don't actually reflect which podcast episodes are unwatched.

I have found a fix at least on my end and it all has to do with encoding. I rip blue rays and convert them for use with apple tv Take 2 and the fix I found is the frames per second. It says it can handle up to 30 frames per second but I have found that so far to be false.

I encode with 720 by 480 with a frame rate of 24 frames per second, Level 31, Keeping zoom at full aspect ratio and so far my Apple Tv take 2 has been performing without issues. It loads super fast and starts my streaming right away from my computer. I use 4Media HD video converter.

It took me time to find the right formula but I found that the frame rate is the most important anything above 25 and my video goes nuts. I have a high speed 54g netgear router with wireless n and two older apple tv units as well. I hope this all helps because I found this to be my fix.

While your fix dovetails into the refresh rate theories on the thread. Re-encoding itunes purchases really isn't an option and even if it were, I don't think I'd volunteer to re-encode 1.5TB and take a loss in quality to boot.